Thread advancing reel



Feb. 27 3951 H. A. KULJIAN 5 3 THREAD ADVANCING REEL Filed April 50,1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I: i l 96' Mil/EN roe f/xmwy A K04 uM/v A TTORNEYFeb. 27, 1951 H. A. KULJIAN 553,031

THREAD ADVANCING REEL Filed April 30, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 T 'Q'INVENTOR ATTORNEY i-Patented Feb. 2?, i511 a-ai THREAD ADVANCING REELHarry A. Kuljian, Marion, Fa.

Application April 30, 1946, Serial No. 566,697

8 Claims. 1

In the continuous-process manufacture of synthetic thread, anappropriate solution is extruded through a suitable spinnerette into asuitable coagulating bath and the thread thus formed is guided over oneor more godet wheels and onto one end of a thread storing and advancingdevice, which causes the thread to move toward the other end of saiddevice in the form of a helix encircling the thread storing andadvancing device. In order to complete the regeneration of the freshlyextruded thread, it is subjected, while moving over the thread advancingdevice to, various washes and chemical treatments.

The thread storing and advancing device may take the form Of the wellknown cage, which is formed of interleaved and interdigitating bars, orit may take the form of a reel formed of a plurality of elongated rollsarranged side by side so that a line passing through the axes of therolls will describe a circle, the rolls being rotated about theirindividual axes, and said axes being slightly skewed relative to theaxis of such circle. Of the two forms of thread storing and advancingdevice, I prefer the latter and the object of my invention is to producean improved apparatus for continuous manufacture of synthetic threadwherein the reel type of thread storing and advancing device isemployed.

To be commercially practicable, a reel type thread advancing deviceshould include means to facilitate initial lacing, or winding, of theend of a freshly extruded thread about the device and, when it isremembered that the device is in rotation and when the size and locationof the thread storing and advancing device are considered, it will beseen that easy and proper initial winding of the filament about thereceiving end of the thread advancing device presents a serious problem.Several prior attempts to solve this problem have been made, but theexpedients heretofore suggested are, as far as I am aware, not quitesatisfactory.

It is, therefore, a further object of the invention to produce improvedmeans for the facilitating the initial winding of the filament about thethread advancing device.

A reel type thread advancing device should also include means foradjusting the skew of the rolls, while the rolls are in motion, so as toregulate the spacing of the convolutions of the helix and to regulatethe speed with which any given point on the helix travels from thereceiving end to the discharging end of the device.

It is, therefore, a still further object of the invention to produce animproved reel type thread advancing device in which the skew of the axes2 of the rolls forming said device may be changed irrespective ofwhether or not the rolls are in motion.

In addition to controlling the speed of movement of the fllament bycontrolling the skew of the axes of the rolls, it is desirable toincrease the speed of movement of the filament without correspondinglyincreasing the R. P. M. of the rolls about their individual axes.

It is, therefore, a still further object of the invention to produce animproved reel type thread advancing device in which the rolls may berotated, as a unit, about a common axis, or about their own individualaxes, or both.

Because, during its regeneration, the filament tends to shrink, it isdesirable to guard against overstretching or breaking the thread due toshrinkage.

It is, therefore, a still further object of the invention to produce animproved thread storing and advancing device which will allow the threadto shrink without overstretching or breaking.

These and other objects are attained by my invention so set forth in thefollowing specification and as illustrated in the accompanying drawingsin which Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic side elevation, partly invertical section, of said apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical section adjacent the righthand end of Fig. i;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3--3 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 2 but taken near the left hand endof Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-5 in Fig.4;

Fig. 6 is a. view generally corresponding to Fig. 4 of a slightlymodified form of apparatus; and

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 1-1 in Fig. 6.

In the several figures like characters are used to designate the sameparts and the arrows on the section lines indicate the directions of thecorrespondingly numbered sectional views.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the apparatus shown inFigs. 1-5 comprises four rollers i, 2, 3, 6 which are similarlyconstructed and mounted and need not be individually described, as eachpreferably comprises a tube 5, having at one end a head 8 from which aspindle 1 projects axially through a self-aligning antifriction bearing8 into a spur gear 9, to which it is secured by key It, nut H and washerl2. Each bearing 8 is carried in a corresponding recess in a plate l5apertured therefor and for the passage of the roller spindlestherethrough.

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all the bearings being held in place by a single retainer disc is andeach protected from access of fluid by a flexible gasket or packing ringl7. Plate I5 is supported and secured by cap screws 20 in an end cap 2|having an axial sleeve 22 projecting rearwardly from the plate through abearing support 23; a gear 25 keyed to the sleeve near its outer end anddriven from a worm gear 26 on a shaft 27 affords means whereby therollers may be rotated as a unit about a common axis coincident withthat of the end cap when desired.

Plate |5 also supports, through antifriction bearing 28, one end of adrive shaft 29 for a gear 30 meshing with roller spur gears 5 to drivethem unitarily on rotation of the shaft, which extends from the platethrough and beyond the end of sleeve 22 and is driven by a keyed bevelgear 3| meshing with a bevel pinion 32 on a shaft 33. The shafts 21 and33 are arranged to be driven independently of each other by any suitableprime movers (not shown). The apparatus further includes a ring 35 whichis carried by the plate l5 and which projects axially therefrom so as tooverlie the adjacent ends of the rollers. The ring 35 serves to lace, orwind, the filament about the thread storing and advancing device in amanner hereinafter more fully explained. A shaft 36 is seated at thecenter of-the plate 5 and extends axially therefrom, the shaft being soarranged that its axis is at the center of a circle drawn through theaxes of the rollers I 2, 3 and 4. The other end of the shaft 36 issupported in a bearing 31 and carries an end plate 38 which is securedto the shaft by key 39 and a set screw 40. A bearing carrier 4| issecured to the end plate 38 by means of cap screws 42 passing througharcuate slots 43 in the end plate and threaded into the bearing carrier4|. The hearing carrier 4| is provided with seats 45 fo receiving selfaligning bearings 48 on the ends of the rollers. Flexible, fluidexcluding gaskets 48 close the open ends of the seats or recesses 45 andare held in position by an annular cap 50.

In the drawings, the axes of the rollers are shown parallel to the axisof the shaft 36 and to each other but this is for convenience ofillustration only. In practice, when the bearing carrier 4| or 56 isrotated relative to end plate 38 or 38', respectively, the axes of therolls will be slightly skewed with reference to the axis of the shaft36. By this means, if the end of a filament is wound about the righthand end of the thread advancing device when the rollers are in motion,the thread will form a helix circumscribing all of the rolls and thefilament will move, in a helical path. toward the other end of thethread advancing device.

There is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 a somewhat modified mounting forthe tail pieces of the rollers I, 2, 3', 4 of apparatus otherwisesimilar to that just described, said mounting comprising a sleeve 55carried on shaft 36' supporting a composite bearing carrier 56 securedto adjusting plate 38' similarly to the connection of plate 38 withcarrier 4| in the preceding figures. This bearing carrier comprises aninternally tapered collar 51 which maintains bearing blocks 58 withinradially adjustable limits in grooved slots 59 formed in the body Of thecarrier. The bearing blocks respectively support self-aligningantifriction bearings 48' on the ends 41' of the rollers, caps 6| andgaskets 82 excluding foreign matter from the bearings and retaininglubricant therein,

2: and in the several bearing blocks yieldingly bias the latter towardtheir radial outer limits as fixed by the adjusted position of collar51. Other than as Just described the various structural details of theapparatus may correspond to those shown in Figs. 1-5 inclusive.

In addition to rollers I, 2, 3, 4 and the supporting and driving meanstherefor, the apparatus in both of its illustrated embodiments includesmeans for supplying treating fluids to the filament as it is carried ina helical path about the rollers. Such means may comprise a plurality ofjets or spray nozzles disposed generally above the rollers in what maybe considered as two groups. In the first group are nozzles adapted forsupplying wash water to the filament, and all of these may be connectedto a common main 88 through which the water is supplied to them. Thenozzles of the other group are arranged longitudinally of the apparatusas a whole and preferably alternately with those of the first group andare mutually independent; they include a nozzle 68 supplied from pipe 89with a first treating liquid, for example, a desulphurizing one; anozzle 10, supplied from pipe 1| with a second treating liquid such as ableaching agent; nozzle I2 supplied from pipe 13 with acid or the like,and nozzle 14 supplied from pipe 15 with a soap solution or othersoftening medium. It will be observed from Fig. 1 that each treatingzone as defined by the space beneath one of the nozzles 68, 10, 12, 14supplying the treating agents is bounded on either side by a zone inwhich water is supplied from one of' the nozzles 85, whereby thefilament may be water washed before and after its passage through eachtreating zone, while a partitioned trough beneath the rollers affordsreceptacles for collecting and keeping segregated the effluent from eachzone whereby the valuable treating liquids may be separately recoveredfor re-use, re-generation or other disposition.

At a convenient point adjacent the starting end of the rollers I providea spinneret 85, immersed in a coagulation bath 86 ina tank 8|,andequipped with a filament guide 88 from which the coagulated filamentformed by solution extruded through an orifice in the spinneret into thecoagulant may be directed by a godet 90 from which it is thereafter ledto rollers 2, 3, 4, as will now be more fully described, dot and dashlines in Fig. 1 indicating the path P of the filament, except where forconvenience an intermediate portion of its helical part has beenomitted.

When the apparatus is to be used for making a thread of filament, theaxes of the rollers are skewed, to the desired extent, by rotating thebearing carrier 4| relative to the plate 38, or by rotating the bearingcarrier 56 relative to the plate 38, so as to cause a filament woundabout the end of the thread advancing device remote from the plates 38and 38 to move, in the form of a helix circumscribing all of the rolls,toward plates 38 and 38.

As this adjustment or skewing of the axes of the rollers is effected bymere rotation of the bearing carriers as to their respective end plates,it will be seen that the axes of the rollers can be skewed, as desired,irrespective of whether the rollers are in motion or not.

During its regeneration, a freshly coagulated filament will shrink. moreor less. and. as shown allowing the rollers to move radially inwardly,in response to the compressing action exerted by the filament shrinkage.This guards against overstretching or outright breaking of the filament.

When the apparatus described is ready for use, the rolls are rotatedabout their axes and the entire reel is rotated about the axis of shaft36. The end of a freshly extruded filament now is led over guide 88 andgodet 90 and placed upon the lacing ring 35 which over hangs theadjacent ends of the rollers. The rotation of the lacing ring 35-causesthe filament to form a band or bundle which is pushed off the lacingring and onto the adjacent end of the reel. Due to r0- tation of therolls about their own axes, the bundle immediately begins to move towardthe opposite ends of the rolls and in so doing, it causes the filamentto form a helix circumscribing all of the rolls. Alternately, theleading end of the freshly coagulated filament may be wound around theends of the rolls directly, and after a few turns of the filament havebeen so wound, the band or bundle thus formed will move toward theopposite end of the thread advancing device in the same manner abovedescribed. However, when the diameter of the thread advancing device isconsidered, and when it is remembered that the rolls are in motion, andthat in an average mill there will be hundreds if not thousands of suchdevices, it will be seen that the provision of the lacing ring 35 whichserves automatically to lace or wind the end of a freshly coagulatedfilament about the end of the thread advancing device is a veryimportant contribution to this art.

The treatments necessary to convert the coagulated filament to afinished condition are carried out while it is moving along its helicalpath on the rollers through a plurality of zones which may be definedrespectively as the zones of influence of the several nozzles from whichthe appropriate liquids are sprayed or dripped onto the filament. In thefirst such zone a wash water nozzle may supply water to remove coagulantadhering to the filament before the latter passes to the zone of thefirst treating solution nozzle 58 supplying a desulphurizing fluid orthe like. The next nozzle then supplies wash water to remove thedesulphurizing fluid, and so on throughout the several treatments by thebleaching agent, acid, soap solution and so forth, although it will beunderstood the specific character of the solutions employed and theorder in which they are applied during the progressuof the filamentalong its helical path form noipart, of the invention and may thereforebe'varied under different conditions and for filaments derived fromdifferent solutions.

The time during which any point on the filament is within each zonedepends of course on several factors, of which may be mentioned thepitch of the helix of its path and its rate of linear travel along thatpath. The first of these, namely, the pitch of the helix, is controlledby the adjustment of the angularity of the axes of the individualrollers to the major axis. Obviously no pitch is imparted to thefilament path when the roller axes are precisely parallel to the majoraxis but when adjusting plate 38 or 38' and bearing carrier 4| or 56 asthe case may be are shifted to impart angularity to the roller axes withrespect to the major axis a helical path is produced, with pitch varyingsubstantially in proportion to the departure of the former frbmparallelism with the latter.

The rate of linear travel of the filament may be determined within widelimits by suitable means (not shown) for controlling the speed of shafts21 and 33. Thus if desired, linear travel may be derived from rotationof the rollers on their own axes only, or they may be revolved about themajor axis, and thus partake of planetary motion through simultaneousrotation of both said shafts, and while the mechanism shown in thedrawings does not provide for adjustment of the pitch of the filamentpath during such planetary motion, such adjustment may be effected whilethe rollers are rotating on their own axes and shaft 36 is stationarywithout interrupting the filament treatment. Afer an adjustment has beenmade, planetary motion may be resumed if desired, but it is notessential that it be employed provided the linear travel of the threadderived alone from rotation of the rollers on their own axes besufficient with relation to the rate of extrusion of the filament fromthe spinneret to maintain at least a slight and preferably a constanttension on the filament between the godet and the rollers.

I will be evident fom the foregoing the apparatus of my inventionaffords great flexibility of conditions of operation as to speed offilament travel and as to duration and extent of treatment while thefilament is following its helical path, and while not in all casesessential, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 6 and'7. internal" tension of the rollers against the helically woundfilament may be produced and a helical path provided which tapersslightly from end to end depending on the adjustment of the threadedtaper collar 51.

While I have herein described with considerable particularity certainembodiments of the invention which may be used to advantage in carryingout the method thereof, and the operations deemed appropriate forattaining its objects, it will be understood I do not desire or intendto limit or confine myself thereto in any way, as changes andmodifications in the form, construction and relationship of the severalparts of the apparatus, their mode of operation and their severalfunctions as well as in the several steps of the said method willreadily occur to those skilled in the art and may be made if desiredwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect byLetters Patent of the United States:

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising a plurality of rollsdisposed about a major axis with their axes at equal angles thereto andequidistant therefrom in all planes normal to said axis, driving meansfor rotating all the rolls at the same speed on their axes, and meansoperable to shift one end of all the rolls about said major axisrelatively to their other ends irrespective of whether the rolls are inmotion.

2. Apparatus of the class described comprising a plurality of rollsdisposed about a major axis with their axes at equal angles thereto andequidistant therefrom in all planes normal to said axis, driving meansfor rotating all the rolls at the same speed on their axes, and meanssupporting the ends of the rolls comprising a selfaligning bearingadjacent each end of each roll and means relatively rotatively movableabout said axis respectively embracing the several bearings adjacent theends of the rolls and efiective by their relative movement to change theangularity of the roll axes to the major axis while maintaining saidaxes equidistant therefrom in all said planes.

3. Apparatus of the class described comprising a pair of spaced,coaxial, relatively movable bearing carriers, a plurality of rolls,bearings for the rolls supported by the carriers and supporting therolls at substantially equal distances from the carrier axis in everyplane normal thereto. the axis of at least one of said rolls beingskewed relative to the axis of the carrier, a gear for rotating eachroll on its axis, and a common drive gear meshing with and operable todrive all said roll gears simultaneously.

4. Apparatus of the class described comprising a pair of spaced coaxialrelatively movable hearing carriers, a plurality of rolls, bearings forthe rolls supported by the carriers and supporting the rolls, at leastone of the carriers comprising bearing supporting means movable towardand away from the carrier axis, yielding means biasing said bearingsupporting means away from the axis, means for adjustably limitingextent of movement thereby induced, the axes of the rolls being skewedrelative to the carrier axis, and means for simultaneously rotating allthe rolls on their respective axes.

5. A filament storing and advancing device including a pair of spacedand aligning supports, a plurality of rolls, and plurality of hearingsin each of said supports and in which the opposite ends of said rollsare journalled, one of said supports being rotatable relative to theother of said supports about an axis common to said supports, to skewthe axes of the rolls relative to said axis.

6. A thread advancing device including a first bearing carrier, a secondbearing carrier, a plurality of bearings in each of said carriers, aplurality of rolls extending between said carriers and havin their endsjournalled in said bearings, said second carrier being rotatablerelative to said first carrier, about an axis common to both of saidcarriers, means for rotating said rolls about their individual axes, alacing ring near said first carrier and over-hanging the adjacent endsof said rolls, and means for rotating said lacing ring.

7. The structure recited in claim 6 in which said lacing ring is rotatedindependently of the rotation of said rolls about their individual axes.

8. The structure recited in claim 6 in which said lacing ring and saidrolls are rotatable about a common central axis independently of therotation oi said rolls about their individual axes.

HARRY A. KULJIAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Ser. N0. 106,911, Sordelli (A. P.0.), published Apr. 27, 1943.

